Mutual Defense Assistance Act

Mutual Defense Assistance Act
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn Act to promote the foreign policy and provide for the defense and general welfare of the United States by furnishing military assistance to foreign nations.
NicknamesMutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949
Enacted bythe 81st United States Congress
EffectiveOctober 6, 1949
Citations
Public law81-329
Statutes at Large63 Stat. 714
Codification
Titles amended22 U.S.C.: Foreign Relations and Intercourse
U.S.C. sections created22 U.S.C. ch. 20 § 1571 et seq.
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House as H.R. 5895 by John Kee (D–WV) on August 15, 1949
  • Committee consideration by House Foreign Affairs, Senate Foreign Relations
  • Passed the House on August 18, 1949 (238-122)
  • Passed the Senate on September 22, 1949 (55-24)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on September 26, 1949; agreed to by the House on September 28, 1949 (224-109) and by the Senate on September 28, 1949 (Agreed)
  • Signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on October 6, 1949

The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949.[1][2] For U.S. foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to Europe.[3] The Act followed Truman's signing of the Economic Cooperation Act (the Marshall Plan), on April 3, 1948, which provided non-military, economic reconstruction and development aid to Europe.

The 1949 Act was amended and reauthorized on July 26, 1950.[4] In 1951, the Economic Cooperation Act and Mutual Defense Assistance Act were succeeded by the Mutual Security Act, and its newly created independent agency, the Mutual Security Administration, to supervise all foreign aid programs, including both military assistance programs and non-military, economic assistance programs that bolstered the defense capability of U.S. allies.[5]

President Harry S. Truman inspecting a brand new M41 Walker Bulldog Prototype Tank. The MDAA allowed a much needed revival of the U.S. Armed Forces' equipment modernization program.

About the same time, the Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act of 1951, also known or referred to as the Battle Act, (65 Stat. 644; 22 U.S.C. 1611 et seq.) was also passed; it banned U.S. assistance to countries doing business with the Soviet Union and was so-named after its sponsor, Representative Laurie C. Battle of Alabama.[6] Strong motivation for this 'control' act also came from export control concerns, following their tightening by the Export Control Act of 1949 over Soviet advances; export controls were used for both domestic policy and later as an instrument of foreign policy. This is exemplified by the restrictions on export of certain strategic or military items to the Soviet bloc or to other countries which it felt, if permitted, would be detrimental to the foreign policy program of the U.S.[7] This latter motive became so strong that it brought legislation directing the President to enlist the cooperation of other nations in enacting controls on trade with the Soviet block to parallel those of the United States. The benefits of the various economic and military aid programs were to be withheld from non-cooperating nations.[8] The act covered a wide range of materials needed for the production of weapons, and was especially focused on anything that could aid atomic weapons research and construction.[9]

As the Cold War developed, these acts were part of the American policy of containment of communism. They importantly provided defense assistance to any ally that might be attacked by the Soviet Union or one of its allies, while other programs provided non-military economic assistance. In Asia, the programs expanded with the newly established Maoist People's Republic of China, and other areas, with the development of specific country missions, including ones in Austria (1947–1950), China (1946–1948), Ireland (1948–1951), and Trieste (1947–1952).[10]

  1. ^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Harry S. Truman: "Statement by the President Upon Signing the Mutual Defense Assistance Act.," October 6, 1949". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
  2. ^ Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949
  3. ^ Chester J. Pach Jr., Arming the Free World: The Origins of the United States Military Assistance Program, 1945-1950 University of North Carolina Press, 1991. 326 pg
  4. ^ "Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949, Amendment ~ P.L. 81-621" (PDF). 64 Stat. 373 ~ Senate Bill 3809. Legis★Works. July 26, 1950. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2015.
  5. ^ John Whiteclay Chambers II, Mutual Security Act The Oxford Companion to American Military History. 2000. Retrieved January 02, 2011
  6. ^ Battle, at Politicalgraveyard.com
  7. ^ Sect 2, 63 Stat.7 (1949), 50 USC App. § 2022 (1952). Cited in Paul H Silverstone, The Export Control Act of 1949: Extraterritorial Enforcement, p. 331 and ff
  8. ^ Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act of 1951 (Battle Act), ch 575, 65 Stat. 644, 22 USC § 1611-13c (1952). Cited in Paul H Silverstone, p.334
  9. ^ Toward an entangling alliance: American isolationism, internationalism, and Europe, 1901-1950 by Ronald E. Powaski(1991)
  10. ^ Records of U.S. Foreign Assistance Agencies, 1948-1961 United States National Archives, Administrative History